Satyen Nabar's Sun Spl analysed

Saturday, 9 August 2014

No.11159, Saturday 09 Aug 2014, Neyartha

Typical Neyartha fare this with the usual intricate wordplays and a smattering of themed clues.ACROSS
1 Party Milton formed is significantly... (11) IMPORTANTLY[PARTY MILTON]*
9 ... opposed to profits getting invested in Austria (7) AGAINST[profits=GAINS inside Austria=AT]
10 Lean monarch kicks horse out in American scramble (6) SKINNY[monarch=K replaces horse=H in American scramble(v)=SHINNY]
11 Added // a minor role (5) EXTRA[DD]
12 In order to claim pie, tycoon may show some irreverence (7) IMPIETY[T]
15 Bicker with the former bridge player moving to the front (4) SPAT[former=PAST with bridge player=S at front]
16 Native of Iran with nine lives? (7,3) PERSIAN CAT[CD]

Maybe it reminds the Col. of a comment about communication between two other Colonels - Wyatt-Turner and Kramer:'I wonder what little bird has been whispering in Kramer's shell-like ear. One with a very long-range voice, methinks.'.

Neyartha at his generous best, for having lowered the bar! Could complete the puzzle without much trouble. Had problem parsing SKINNY, MUNNAR, NAINITAL, DARN etc. On the whole a nice puzzle. Thanks, Neyartha/ :-)))

I thought it was an atypical Neyartha fare: comparatively concise clues and straightforward wordplay (barring one or two instance of excess padding, e.g. 3D). Of course, the Theme has almost always been a theme with his puzzles, so that's a constant.